HC Deb 08 March 2002 vol 381 cc591-2W
Mr. Hammond

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the total cost of the Business Link national call centre between its inception in 2001 and its planned closure in 2002. [38773]

Nigel Griffiths

The DTI's programme of information and advice services for small businesses, known as the Gateway is delivered under a managed service contract with one contractor and consists of four componentsa web site a contract centre service 0845 600 9006 a national client database; and a range of support systems for 43 local Business Link Operators.

The Gateway cost £2.65 million pounds to set up and currently costs £3.75 million pounds in fixed annual service charges to run.

The cost of the Business Link National Contact Centre cannot be disaggregated.

Mr. Hammond

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the quality of service provided to users of the Business Link national call centre. [38774]

Nigel Griffiths

The Small Business Service (SBS) has continually monitored the performance of the inquiry handling service since April 2001 (when the Business Link National Contact Centre started operating). In particular the SBS hascommissioned an independent performance survey; received and reacted to feed back, compliments and complaints from SME customers and from the Small Business Council (SBC) and the Business Links; listened to and quality reviewed sample calls received by the Business Link National Contact Centre; and worked with its contractor to review and improve the quality of service delivery.

In the light of these assessments, the SBS has considered a number of options to improve the enquiry handling service. The SBS has now concluded that instead of being handled by a centre service point, calls will be routed straight to local Business Link Operators. This will improve responsiveness and service to customers.

Mr. Hammond

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to ensure that advice will continue to be available free of charge and without pressure to purchase services via local business links following the closure of the Business Link national call centre. [38775]

Nigel Griffiths

We have no plans for changing the basis of Business Link charges or to pressurise any users into purchasing services from Business Link Operators.